Doffing mechanism



April 16, 1946. J. w. WEBER DOFFING MECHANISM Filed Oct. 6. 1943 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 April 16, 1946. J. w. WEBER ,7

- DOFEING MECHANISM I Filed Oct. 6, 1943 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 4 g uruuumuull V T April 16, 1946. J. w. WEBER DOFFING MECHANISM Filed 001;. 6. 1943 3 syBt -sneet :5

Patented Apr. 16, 1946 I h 2,398,732

umreo STAT-es PATENT John W- W be de hia,Ra ia/shawlt9 Pro r & chwa tz; m??? s. na flfifi ll iia, Pa. a corporation of Pennsylvania- Apnli at an October 6, .3l2 sria1 253,309, 3 Claims. 01. 1 9-15 1) This invention relates to the dofiine meehaicerdance ,twith the emese tainyent qn applied msms of carding and garnett .machines; and thereto; l p p l t o e p rt cula y to d fi s of t e i yp b .Fis- 32ii a secticn tl i ont elevat on taken n which a fleece or web of carded'fibres formed on 1111. 1irle -2-- ;2,;'E ig.:i; i 1 the main ylinder of the machine is divid d an 5 l Fig.';3;1. ,.an enlar ed sectionaljviewmof as eremoved therefrom in the form of a plurality of mental portion-of the dofllng rollyshown-in Fig.1, individual ribbons, from which finished yarns are with the carded fibres lclingingvto the .points of subsequently and respectively produced. theteethoflsaideltoll; V Under the methods currently employed in (the Fig. 4 is a ViGYLSiIIlilfigllzQQtFiQ-BM11311?fiheccgrdgd manufacture of yarns from ribbons of carded 1,0 fibres ,ptesseddQwn-ibetween the-points. of. the

fibres, it is impossible to divide a web of carded teethpfsaidroll;

fibres accurately into ribbons of uniform widths, 1Fi v..5 *is a sectionalvyiewataisen on the lin consequently the yarns respectively produced ,-Fi-g.:;3; g

from the individual ribbons are not of uniform #555. 6 :is a sectional; view taken on the line diameter (or texture throughout their length. :15 l l r o Two methods of dividing the webs of carded Fig; Lisa sectiona l-vie,w daken on th line fibres are commonly employed; one being the ring -L..T|; Fig. 1;: v n

doffer method, to which the present invention is 8 is; a fimQmIQMiGW, similar to Fig. 7,

directed, and the other being the tape condenser showing a modificationpbtheinvention; and method, which employs a difierent principle than 20 V Fig. .9 illustrates a rigid -.tooth.stripper:nvhich that here involved. Both methods have a commay :be employed .inspliaotjcing lthetprese ntinmon fault, i. e. the fibresalong the marginal edges Yention; l u V of immediately adjacent ribbons are not cleanly insFig. 1 .of the drawl s, the; main cylinder of separated at the time the division of the fleece is a ar tt orcardinemachineion which-thematted made, by reason of the fact that some .of the '2 fibresnare zcalded-intoiaiwide fieeceaor sweb A is longer fibres lying at an angle to and across the --shown at ml; A dotting-roll .oftsubstantially the proposed line of division are invariably intersamegfaceawidthaas:theloarding'lcylinderfll is mingled, at their opposite ends respectively, with illustrated-tat .12; 'Inaceordanceiwitli the present other fibres lying-at the'oppos ite sides Brespecinvention the doflingirbili remocesgthe .web A tively of the proposed line .of division. Thesepa- 9 --from:the carding,cylinderizi in'itherlusualkmanner.

"ratlonof the web into the immediately adjacent N0 ma y1'the. cardediefibresirz which constitute Fi .1 is a d agrammatic sid c at enl antly instances h rinesimayheslish ribbons causes one end of the long line-crossing the web A remain on the, outerwsurfac ofuthe fibres to adhere .to thefibres forming the bulk of vdo'fiera-roll, as .shoyvnkinrEiesf Sand 15, with .the one of the adjacent ribbons and follow alonglas fibre a eing erigagedaby substantially only the a part of that ribbon, and to cause the fibres v 3g gouteriendsmi'pbintsifliofathe teethidiof then-garadhering to the opposite ends of these long'fibres nett wire 5;.-or.ii7heiordinary carding/cloth, with to be drawn from theother of the adjacent-ribwhich the-outer Inf .lthel'ldoffing cylinder b ons, thus,-at-t he spots where such robbingoccurs is clothed, w thout the fibres getting down, -to the one ribbon will have an excessof-fibreswhile y subs ntialuextent; into the :gullets' G of the the other will'be deficient. Summon-uniformity p in the cross secti naI volume in the primary-rib- "t ent adj acent parallel rows of teeth on the carriestlthrqllgh in -t Y ul i a e o the-domng ron.

produced f om h res e t bees h s th h ii h*P i ei ls en t i c e yarns are of u equ c oss s qt pn ns'E h ir e i ;9 i{ ;d9m 9 F 13? i f-W st a respective lengths. ce intervals, w r eg ooye l' i The object t rm n i ven on is 1P fi l e a l jfitl f ii nl e *9 l I eeh vide a 'highly ,efiicient ,dofiins and web-dividing 9i wh h i prov ged -with atcir cular beveled outer mechanism by i n rm iy. f rib on idth eas h es eme h n si he Pet te-bete see and e -s ieeal v lu willi e su tan ia l gs a e.eeb tani e l we Sam a ure l "a th cylindri a ,se tie a med the acc m an ing r'a fines: y' ythe ext nts ',3 9f t epte th .9 teeth 4 or into the grooves gl'dormed by' and -be'- face of ordinary wire carding cloth.

machine. As shown in Fig. 5, the toothed wire 5 may be laid in convolutions or formed in continuous rings between the annulae l0, I0, on the surface 8 of the roll 2.

The axial spacing of the circular knife edges l I, H, throughout the length of the roll 2, determines the widths of the ribbons into which the fleece or web A is to be divided, in .accordance with the presentinvention.

In accordance with the present invention, the carded fibres a, a of the web A are forced down into the gullets 6 of the teeth 4 and into the wheels l5 and 16 to travel at a slightly greater surface speed than the surface of the roll 2, whereby the ends of the flexible elements l1, ll will extend down into the grooves I, 1, as shown in Fig. 7, and wipe the fibres a out of the grooves grooves 1, I lying between the parallel rows of teeth 4, to an extent substantially below the outer peripheral edges II, II of thesli'ttingbrldividihg rings [0, In, to effect completesep'aration between the fibres lying along the lines of division between each pair of adjacent ribbons Al, Al, into which the web A is thus divided. 7 I 7 By pressing the carded fibres down into the grooves l, forcibly, immediately adjacent the opposite sides of each of the dividing blades II, any fibres adhering to the ends of otherswhich normally lie across the lines of division are stripped fromsuch ends and such long fibres are carried to either one side 'or'the other of each blade ll, thus a clean separation of the fibres constituting each of the ribbons Al, Al is effected, along the marginal edges thereof.

Any suitable means may be provided for.forcing the carded fibres a, a down into the 'gullets 6 of the teeth 4 and'into'the' grooves 1 between the rows of teeth. -In the present instance a flexible porcupine belt' I2' is" provided, which passes around suitable rolls l3, 13, either of which "may be driven to'move the upper run of the endless belt l2 at a speed at least as great as; and prefer- .ably slightly greater'than,' the speed of i the peripheral surface of the dofling roll2. v The porcupine belt I2 is provided witha multiplicity of flexible wiping elements 14 which-collectively produce a surface on the belt l2 which correspond, substantially to the porcupine sur- As the dofling roll 2 is rotated in the direction of thearrow :1:,' Fig. 1; and as the belt l2 isconcurrently moved'in'the direction of the arrow y, Fig, 1, the flexible wire eleme'nts constituting '1 of the dofiing roll 2, and at the same time removing the fibres from the gullets 6, 6 of the teeth]. V

Rotation of the wheels l5, l5 and I6, I6 in the direction of the arrows z, 2, Fig. 1, after wiping v the fibres a, a of the ribbons Al, Al out of the the porcupine surface of :the belt l2, engage the I 2 thetips of the flexible wire .elements Mare prevented'from: dragging the fibres out of the grooves in which they hadbeen pressed, asthe belt and the roll separate.

p As the roll [continues to move,'in the direction of the arrow at thejburiedfibresof alternate ribbons Al, Al, into which'the web A has been shown in Fig. 2,-leaying the intermediate ribbons Al, Al buried in the-wide channels formed by and between the dividing blades II, II. The interdivided by the rings l0, ID are removed from the w doifer roll 2- by wheel orring doffers l5, (5, as

mediate ribbonsAl, Al are subsequently removed bya similar series of wheel or ring doffers l6, l6, which lie above theseries15, l5,- asclearly shown inFigs.1'and2..

.Preferably therin'g'or wheel dofier's J5, i5 and l6, l6 are'composed of flexible wire elements,

n. similar to the wire elements I4 or the belt I2.

annular channels formed by and between the dividing-- blades II, II, lay these ribbons on the upper runs of flexible belts 20, 20 respectively, which may constitute the lower aprons of a rubbing condenser. Y .ij

' The ribbons Al, Al lying on the upper runs of the aprons 20, 20 are carried under the lower runs of the upper aprons 2|, 2|, by which consolidation of the carded fibres into yarn rovings iseffected. This consolidation, may be accentuated by relative lateral reciprocation between the lower runs of the. upper. aprons 2| and the upper runs of the lower aprons 20, in the manner common to rubbing'c'ondensers, if desired.

' In order to assure stripping of the fibres a, a of the'ribbons Al, Alfrom. the tips of the flexible elements I'l'of the: wheels 15' and Hirespectively, the flexible elements I! areinstalled in these wheels in circular rows, as clearly shown in Fig. '7, and each rowis adapted to operate in a slot 22 formed'in a U-shaped stripper grid 23.

As shown in:Fig. 1, as the wheels 15 and I 6 rotate and 'carry' the fibres from the dofier roll 2 -to the aprons 20,10 respectively, the points of the teeth ll recede through the slots ,22 to positions beyond the circular surface 24 of the stripper grids '23; itbeing'fnoted'that the axes of rotation :of the wheels 15 and'lB are eccentrically 'disposed'with respect to the centers of the arcs on which the rounded surfaces 24, 24 of the grids -23, 23 are formed. The upper ends of the grids -23, 23 are secured to supporting bars '25, 2'5 which in turn are rigidly supported in any suitable manner by thesideframes of the carding machine. I t

As shown in Fig. 8the surfacefla of the doffer roll zaisprovided with, annular rooves 9a in whichare respectively mounted, the ribbon separatingrings Illa, Illa, between which the surface ta ;of the roll is clothedwith bands of ordinary carding cloth 26 having the usual flexible wire teethr2'l arran ed in circular axially spaced rows. The flexible elements l 'laof the stripper rolls l5 and I6 operate between the circular rows of teeth -21 of the carding'cloth and-lift theribbons of carded fibres out of thegrooves formed between the rows of teeth of the carding cloth, in substantially the same manner as described 7 If desired the stripper rolls-l5 and |6.may be composed. of a seriesof rigid toothed discs such as shown in Fig.--9', which.lmay be arranged in axially .-'spaced.relation. to .each. other to provide the porcupine surface necessary for projecting down into thegrooves formed between the rows .of teeth of the .garnett.wire .oruthe eardingcloth doffer roll provided with a cylindrical surface formed of tooth points and interposed axially spaced continuously circular knife edges adapted with said tooth points to support a Web of carded fibres, means for forcing said fibre inwardly beyond the peripheries of said knife edges to divide the web into individual ribbons. and wheels rotatably mounted adjacent the face of said roll and provided with teeth adapted to penetrate the tooth-point cylindrical surface of the roll within circumferential channels formed thereon by and between said knife edges for removing the ribbons from said channels respectively.

2. A carded fibre dofiing mechanism including a doffer roll provided with a cylindrical surface formed of tooth points and interposed axially spaced continuously circular knife edges adapted with said tooth points to support a web of carded fibres, means for forcing said fibres inwardly beyond the peripheries of said knife edges to divide the web into individual-ribbons, wheels having disc-like series of teeth for removing said ribbons individually from circumferential channels formed on the face of the roll by and between said knife edges, and grids including bar-like elements between said series of teeth and inter- I secting the paths of travel of the peripheries of said disc-like series of teeth for stripping the fibres of the individual ribbons from said wheels. 3. A carded fibre dofiing mechanism including a dofier roll provided with a cylindrical surface formed of tooth points and interposed axially spaced continuously circular knife edges adapted with said tooth points to support a web of carded fibres, means for forcing said fibres inwardly beyond the peripheries of said knife edges to divide the web into individual ribbons, toothed wheels for removing said ribbons individually from circumferential channels formed on. the face of the roll by and between said knife edges, grids cooperating with said toothed wheels for stripping the fibres of the individual ribbons from said wheels, and an endless belt conveyer for receiving the ribbons from said wheels and carrying said ribbons away from said wheels and grids.

' JOHN W. WEBER. 

